{"id":265427,"date":"2026-04-25T04:39:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T04:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/265427\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T04:39:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T04:39:08","slug":"state-cites-22-emergency-plan-deficiencies-at-camp-mystic-gives-45-days-to-revise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/265427\/","title":{"rendered":"State cites 22 emergency plan deficiencies at Camp Mystic, gives 45 days to revise"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 The Texas Department of State Health Services has issued a deficiency letter to Camp Mystic over its emergency plan, citing more than a dozen areas where the camp fails to meet new state safety requirements<\/a> enacted after deadly flooding killed 27 people<\/a> last July 4.<\/p>\n

The letter, obtained by CBS Austin, was sent as part of the camp’s license renewal application review. A DSHS spokesperson said most youth camps in Texas have received similar deficiency letters due to increased emergency plan requirements under the new state law.<\/p>\n

“This is a part of the licensing application review process, and most youth camps have received a notice of deficiency letter for their emergency plan due to the statutory changes and increased emergency plan requirements,” the DSHS spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

State officials say all 174 camps that have submitted emergency plans this year have received deficiency letters, and some camps have yet to submit a plan.<\/p>\n

RELATED | Lt. Governor Dan Patrick urges nonrenewal of Camp Mystic’s license after deadly July flood<\/a><\/p>\n

The 11-page letter identifies 22 deficiencies across Camp Mystic’s emergency plan, including gaps in its flood evacuation procedures, fire response plan, aquatic emergency protocols and systems for alerting campers who are deaf or hard of hearing. State reviewers also flagged that Camp Mystic failed to submit a required FEMA floodplain map showing the location of cabins in relation to the floodplain.<\/p>\n

In multiple sections, the state points to the same overarching issue \u2014 the plan does not clearly define who is responsible for critical actions, including calling 911 and coordinating with first responders.<\/p>\n

\u201cChaos and dangerous moments are a recipe for disaster. You need clarity,\u201d said Rania Mankarious, CEO of Crime Stoppers of Houston.<\/p>\n

Reviewers found the camp’s flash flood evacuation plan did not fully address how to assist campers with disabilities, lacked a reunification plan for families and did not clearly assign staff responsibilities during an evacuation. “The plan also did not clearly define a process for initiating evacuation upon a flash flood warning issued by the National Weather Service, or for coordinating with local emergency management.<\/p>\n

Experts say preparation is critical when it comes to flooding, where warning times can be limited.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey need to have a plan in place before the flood happens because it\u2019s too late once the flood happens to make up a plan,\u201d said David Maidment, a professor emeritus of civil engineering at the University of Texas at Austin.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s easy to know that rainfall is going to happen. The question is just where it\u2019s going to happen,\u201d Maidment added.<\/p>\n

Additional deficiencies cited include incomplete procedures for medical emergencies, an incorrect internal reference in the active threat section, and no clearly defined process for distributing the emergency plan to staff, volunteers or parents.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery one of these components goes to the safety of the camp in its entirety during an emergency,\u201d Mankarious said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a crisis, things get chaotic quickly. So you want people to have no questions,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

The letter also flags issues with evacuation planning, including limited details on routes and how families would be notified in an emergency.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen is an evacuation going to be called into action? How do they manage their campers?\u201d Mankarious said.<\/p>\n

Camp Mystic has 45 days to resubmit a corrected emergency plan.<\/p>\n

Camp officials provided the following statement:<\/p>\n

“Camp Mystic – along with other Texas camps – recently received a deficiency letter from the Texas Department of Health Services (DSHS) regarding Camp Mystic’s application for licensure for its Cypress Lake campus.Camp Mystic is carefully reviewing the notice from DSHS and we are working closely with DSHS through the appropriate process to address the areas outlined. Our priority remains the safety and well-being of our campers, and we hope to continue the nearly century-long mission and ministry of Camp Mystic to provide a Christian camping experience for girls that allows them to grow physically, mentally and spiritually.”<\/p>\n

Attorneys for the Steward family, whose daughter is still missing after last year\u2019s flooding, also raised concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that Camp Mystic still doesn\u2019t have a compliant plan in place less than 6 weeks before it hopes to be in charge of 850 children is alarming. But not surprising,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

The deficiency letter is separate from ongoing investigations into the camp. The Texas Rangers are conducting a criminal investigation<\/a> and the legislature has launched a joint committee inquiry<\/a>, with lawmakers visiting the camp earlier this week.<\/p>\n

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick urged DSHS<\/a> last month not to renew Camp Mystic’s license. The camp has said it looks forward to supporting lawmakers in gaining a full understanding of what happened during the flooding.<\/p>\n

The camp is hoping to reopen its Cypress Lake location this summer, which is located further from the Guadalupe River site that flooded last year. Whether it can move forward will depend on how the state determines its revised emergency plan meets requirements.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 The Texas Department of State Health Services has issued a deficiency letter to Camp Mystic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265428,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":{"0":"post-265427","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-austin","8":"tag-austin","9":"tag-austin-headlines","10":"tag-austin-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}